Five die in Syria school bombing

At least five youths have been killed after mortars crashed into their school in a rebel-held town in Syria today.

Rami Abdurrahman, of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory For Human Rights, said the number of deaths was expected to rise because of the high number of injured in the incident in the town of Qaboun near Damascus.

Mr Abdurrahman said it was not clear who fired the mortars.

Both pro-government forces loyal to President Bashar Assad and rebels opposed to his rule use the weapons.

Another activist, Amar al-Hassan, based near Damascus, confirmed the incident and gave a higher death toll. Conflicting death tolls are routine after such incidents.

Syrian children have often been the victims of the country’s war, now in its fourth year, but they are rarely specifically targeted.